Abbas Yushau Yusuf

Due to the shutdown of all schools in Kano state beginning from March 23, 2020, The Joint Association of Private Schools in Kano says they have lost more than 1.6 billion Naira to the pandemic.

In a communiqué issued by Engineer, Bashir Adamu Aliyu said Kano State Ministry of Education released a press statement on Wednesday 28th October 2020 indicating the possibility of a cancellation of the 3rd Term of 2019/2020.

Since then, school proprietors have been contacting their respective associations trying to understand the situation and make sense of the directive.

He said This is what necessitated an update by the Joint Committee of Private and Voluntary Schools Associations in Kano State.

According to Engineer Bashir Adamu Aliyu   the fact that their members are equally faced with economic challenges resulting from the shutdown, the fact that most of our members use rented properties and many could not meet up with their rents, financial obligations and debt servicing during the lockdown.

The Joint Association Observed that they have over 3,000 schools in Kano State, and the  Associations provide employment to over 100,000 staff, give affordable, qualitative education to more than 600,000 students, and generate billions of Naira in revenue for the real estate, publishers, furniture and other affiliated businesses and industries.

The association also noted that a few dozen private schools were fumigated along with public schools in preparation for SSCE and NECO examinations, while some of the final year students were given facemasks to help them comply with COVID-19 protocols.

The association also lamented nonreceipt of financial assistance from the State Government despite  on Thurs October 22, 2020, they submitted a passionate appeal to Governor Ganduje through the  Commissioner, Kano State Ministry of Education,

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According to the Lagos State government has launched an N5,000,000,000 (Five Billion Naira) support fund to help reduce the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on low-cost private schools in the state, because the educational sector is one of those severely impacted by the pandemic, with schools and vocational learning-centers shut since March.”

They also cited example with  Kwara State Government setting aside the sum of N135,500,000 (One Hundred and Thirty-Five Million Naira) under the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) as an interest-free loan to 1,119 private school owners across the state, as salary support for their workers to prevent massive loss of job and poverty surge in the education sub-sector.

That even in those States where financial support was provided to the schools, none of them was requested to discount their schools’ fees.

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They said, even though they appreciate the Federal Government efforts to assist the staff of private schools with some relief packages, it is yet to materialise, and is only applicable to 10 persons only per school and for only 3 months. 8.

“That all the Federal Government Colleges are currently conducting the 3rd term of the 2019/2020 Session, they are collecting their full school fees and rejecting any child whose parents cannot pay”

The Joint Association of Private Schools further calls on all members to remain calm, law-abiding and cooperate with all relevant authorities, to ensure the smooth running of schools and maintain the peaceful atmosphere in the State.

They also reassure their members that they are still discussing and contacting the authorities concerned to clarify the issues and arrive at an informed decision, as critical stakeholders in education, hence the question of threatening us to take a hasty stance does not even arise.

They also lament the loss of more than 1.65 Billion Naira to the pandemic for the 7-month abstinence of teaching and learning in Nigerian Schools.

Engineer Bashir noted that canceling 3rd Term and that of school fees discount are two entirely separate issues, each of which should be handled differently, as one affects the public and private schools while the other is exclusive to private schools.